THE GREAT DOPE OPERAScript Treatment & Executive Summary

LSD Molecule

FOR INFORMATION ONLY: This proprietary memorandum is informational in nature and relates to the packaging, production and distribution of the dramatic property THE GREAT DOPE OPERA. It is for your confidential use and consideration only, and may not be reproduced, sold, or redistributed without explicit prior approval of BEL Productions.

“The movie industry keeps getting richer and richer.The market for movie entertainment has grown exponentially, and so have the potential rewards for big hits.” –Forbes

Character-Driven Story

The Oliver Stone film 'Savages' alluded to the historical background of The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, the infamous Laguna Beach-based international smuggling ring of the the 60s and 70s. Winslow's prequel novel, 'The Kings of Cool' expands on the fact that his young dealer-heroes learned their craft on the knees of their parents, who were characterized as the Hippie Mafia, with their icon Timothy Leary, who Nixon called 'The Most Dangerous Man in the World'. But those stories focus more on their current emotional situations and social entanglements of the youthful players, rather than delving into the true life and high times of the BEL and its players.

The core of original BEL members includes numerous storylines suitable for development and/or fictionalization. Original members of the BEL are available to consult on untold aspects of their personal and collective stories. Since their case was finally closed a couple of years ago, they have been coming out from the underground, experiencing a swell of interest in their former activities from such diverse media as National Geographic and the History Channel. They are a walking catalog of 60's archetypes -- of Fools, Wizards, Artists, and Daredevils. The mother ocean -- the surf is their common denominator.

In the 60s they produced two groundbreaking lifestyle films themselves - "Endless Summer", the surf film and the concert film "Rainbow Bridge", a peek inside the burgeoning culture that starred Jimi Hendrix near the end of his short career. Since then an endless parade of books has come out claiming to tell the true story -- but only now is that truth becoming more and more real, as the actual players emerge. The success of current docudramas, such as "The Source Family", demonstrate there is an interest in revisiting the times, either in a historical or dramatized way. Their legend is growing even as their numbers are dwindling. Any revisons of history are in the direction of clarification rather than the numerous obfuscating views. The brotherhood still engages in Jolly Roger reunions to regulate their mutual interests.

In 1966, John Griggs robbed a Hollywood producer of LSD, allegedly at gunpoint. This act dramatically changed Griggs' life and that of a large portion of the world. A week later, Glen Lynd testified in 1973 before the Orange County Grand Jury, Griggs experimented with the LSD, "threw away his gun and was running around hollering, 'This is it.' That's how it all began." This Eureka experience was repeated in each of his high school comrades who were bound together like a band of brothers. They formalized their spiritual connection, on the advice of Timothy Leary, into a tax-exempt church, which subsequently earned both a degree of respect and awe, and intense notoriety.

It's a spoiler to say, but important to know that John Griggs, the spearhead andcenter of the brotherhoodwas dead by August, 1969, doing a face plant into a campfire at the family compound in Idyllwild, California -- “a ranch hideaway nestled in a grassy bowl three hundred feet beneath a rock-strewn ridge along the Pacific Crest Trail between Hemet and Palm Springs.” He accidentally ingested a massive overdose of psilocybin and refused medical attention.It wasn't until August of 1972 that Operation BEL launched the opening salvo in the never-ending American drug war. In the meanwhile the Brothers had paid the Weathermen between $25-50 thousand dollars to break Tim Leary out of jail and facilitate him fleeing the country. Nixon's west coast Whitehouse in San Clemente simply could not abide such a three-ring countercultural circus going on only 10 miles from his compound. When Ronald Reagan became California governor, instead of Tim Leary, an alternative candidate, he backed the Feds to the hilt.

In the 1973 Senate hearings, Glen Lynd, a formerly-trusted brother spilled his guts, describing in detail the secret origins and clandestine operations of the Laguna Beach-based Brotherhood of Eternal Love. By then BEL was alleged to be an international drug ring by the Federal government, which also brought charges against them for passport fraud, fearless capers and scams that would make any wannabe 'James Bond' proud. They wrote themselves into history with mega-swagger.Scully was connected with the Brotherhood via Billy Hitchcock.In January of 1973, Leary was re-arrested in Afghanistan, and by November Hitchcock [Leary's Millbrook patron] had turned state's evidence to convict Tim Scully and Nick Sand. By 1975 Stark was arrested in Italy, but released as a probable intel agent or asset.Most of their shady ideas had come from their chemist Ronald Stark, who had international black market connections in Lebanon, Britain, France, and elsewhere. He showed them the ropes and provided money-laundering options in the Caribbean run by CIA.The Brotherhood grew from humble beginnings into a multimillion-dollar underground organization, according to court records. They may or may not have had direct assistance from CIA intelligence personnel. Their relationship to such shady characters as their chemist/connection Ronald Stark was always ambiguous. But Stark shared the belief in LSD evangelism.

Although he did not originally know much about lysergic acid diethylamide, Griggs did like the results of his early experimentation, according to Lynd's testimony. Brother Eddie Padilla [author of Lurigancho] has also admitted that he had a similar life-changing experience with Lynd at Mt. Palomar.The brothers became more and more enmeshed in a world of international intrigue in black markets and money laundering. Curiously, while some brothers did some time, somehow their sentences seemed short when you consider a simple possession charge could get one life in some states.That is not to say they did not suffer.

Anaheim put the 'Hood' in Brotherhood. BEL founder, John Griggs, and his friends “grew up in the shadow of Disneyland,” dealing products to the visitors during their employment there to enhance their experience of The Magic Kingdom.They made the world their amusement park. They discovered they had hit the jackPot. The BEL became a spiritual organization of psychedelic visionaries and righteous dealers whose influence contoured the late 1960s and following decades, including the psychedelic entrepreneurs of computer science.

They moved to Laguna Beach and helped usher in a hippie scene that was a Southern California version of Haight-Ashbury with surfboards and plenty of orange sunshine. Countless flower children overran the resort town, filling its beaches, coves, and canyons with the scent of marijuana and hashish and sounds of the latest acid rock albums.Psychedelic swirls decorated everything from vans to surfboards, and the peace sign, papaya smoothies and bands such as Love, the Seeds, Blue Cheer, and Santana were in vogue.

The group was headquartered in Mystic Arts World on Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach. It wound up suspiciously being burned out by conservative town fathers who had finally had enough of the "children's crusade". ”We burned out those hippies on Pacific Coast Highway,” boasted a John Birch member whose “own daughter became an acid-dropping hippie.”

Timothy Leary, the excommunicated Harvard psychologist (noted for the phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out"), became the godfather of the group, living with them in Laguna Canyon and later at the Idyllwild Ranch, where they were visited by rock stars and the psychedelic intelligentsia. BEL's sacramental foundation was established on belief in the mind-altering benefits of LSD, (lysergic acid diethylamide). They were one of the world's largest acid manufacturers of that period, and the biggest "brand" in that arena ever.Estimates for BEL members range from 250 to 2000. Orange Sunshine was first made in St. Louis in '69 and transported west.Orange Sunshine was the "antidote" to the toxic Agent Orange. The group brought together local surfers, drug users and affluent people from Orange County, Los Angeles and the Pasadena area. For several years, their psychedelic activities were underwritten by selling high-quality marijuana, smuggled from Mexico in surfboards. Their name has been linked to renegade groups from Charles Manson to the Hari Krishnas, and the Process Church. Soon they branched out to smuggling huge quantities of Afghani hash, then produced hash oil to underwrite their acid evangelism and "back to nature" philosophy. Ironically, the wholesacred-hallucinogen interest morphed into a mass-produced consumer-product movement. Today, some claim it was all the result of social engineering to channel rebellion and discredit the youth movement from the Powers That Be.

Idyllwild

The Psychedelic Scene

BEL turned on to a new scene. In October, 1966, they moved from their Anaheim haunts to Modjeska Canyon, where they became "psychedelic evangelists," says Dion Wright, who befriended Griggs in Laguna Beach. They rejected their material ways, and incorporated as the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. They were granted tax-exempt status as a religious organization by the state Franchise Tax Board.There in the Orange County foothills, they began practicing under a Zen yogi and joined the spiritual search that was sweeping America's youth. They also cultivated their knowledge of narcotics. Thus, by the time they arrived in Laguna Beach in early 1967, they were experienced drug users. When their house (in Modjeska Canyon) burned down, they all got jobs as gardeners for the city of Laguna Beach and moved to the coast."There was a moment of incredible innocence and romantic idealism," Timothy Leary said. The one-time Harvard psychology lecturer wrote about his involvement with the Brotherhood in his book, "Flashbacks, an Autobiography of Timothy Leary." The Brotherhood, whose members lived in a two-block neighborhood in Laguna Canyon euphemistically called "Dodge City", opened Mystic Arts World in the Sleepy Hollow section of town. Mystic Arts was a Bohemian boutique that became the unofficial headquarters of Laguna's hippies. Mystic Arts World was also a front for a sophisticated drug-dealing operation.In 1972, local and federal authorities received grand jury indictments against 46 members of the Brotherhood in an effort to shatter what law enforcement officials considered to be one of the largest drug-dealing operations in the United States. Police estimated that about 200 people were involved with the group at its peak. From those indictments came Lynd's revealing testimony and eventual convictions on conspiracy and drug charges for 50% to 60% of those indicted, according to Ed Freeman, an Orange County assistant district attorney and the prosecutor in the Brotherhood case. Lynd was indicted but given immunity to testify before the grand jury.According to court records, the Brotherhood smuggled hashish from Afghanistan, which members would process and then can and label as peaches or tomatoes for export internationally. They had counterfeit passports, driver's licenses and other phony IDs and disguises to help them move freely between borders, according to records. Also, according to testimony before the grand jury, Brotherhood members made extensive trips to Mexico where they smuggled marijuana across the border by putting the weed in the hubcaps of their automobiles and paying off Mexican police.Lynd testified that he ran nearly 1,000 kilos of marijuana to New York in two trips in 1967 and returned with a partner who carried two suitcases stuffed with $98,000 in cash. "You would see them out here in the canyon with rags on their bodies, planting corn with their girlfriends and fellow dopers," says Purcell, one of four special investigators whose work resulted in the indictments. "Then you would see the same person in a three-piece suit under a different name paying cash to a Porsche car dealer."

"Endless Summer" meets "Scarface"

Working Title: THE GREAT DOPE OPERA:The High Times & True Adventures ofThe Brotherhood of Eternal Love

Mostly, the hippies of the 1960s are remembered for their peaceful dispositions, their preaching of 'Peace and Love'. But, some of that vanguard banded into what High Times and Rolling Stone dubbed a 'hippie mafia'. A social phenomenon which spurned materialism, some hippies who grew up in the shadow of Disneyland had none the less made millions, whether in a willing or inadvertent league with CIA and other black marketeers. They thought of themselves as spiritual warriors, the 'untouchable' star-crossed Robin Hoods of acid, more of an outlaw band than criminal ring. But there was a riptide toward the later that inexorably pulled them under.

Yet that alternative society, or what is left of it, claimed they were idealists whose true history was guarded as carefully as any state secret. The Brotherhood supplied LSD and marijuana as a sacred mission, believing in the righteousness of their profession. No one could grasp what they did without understanding the rise of LSD, the growth of the psychedelic movement and the heady, optimistic, revolutionary, energized days of the 1960s. The Brotherhood existed, achieving many of the legendary things claimed on its behalf. It certainly generated millions of dollars, as a loosely networked drug ring. They hit the "jack-pot". It was also fired with idealism, novelty-seeking, and adventurism. The French might call it bel esprit, a cleverperson who uses the mind creatively.

The Brotherhood of Eternal Love was one part of a much greater movement fascinated by the potential of LSD to improve the quality of mankind's life. The promising psychiatric tool became a potent new weapon in the hands of generals and spymasters -- the manipulators of populations. The research, both civilian and military, was widespread. Many believed that through the heightened perceptions and insights it produced, LSD could radically alter the direction of the human race by creating a golden pathway to the future. The dream united many diverse individuals who fueled the creation of the psychedelic movement. Drugs in the 1960s no longer meant the drugging down of society, but a means to 'enlightenment'. Distribution became a cosmic conspiracy -- conspirituality. That spirit has triumphed and survives today in compassionate treatment and medical marijuana which has eased the suffering of millions.The social experiment/social engineering story became one of how the supporters of a dream were driven underground, where ideals and loyalties wither before the demands of survival. The counterculture faced hostility from the status quo, the potential for corruption, and the ambiguities of its uneasy existence. The psychedelic movement never had the discipline and order with which the space navigators and visionaries could combat its difficulties. The drugs at its core were sacred tools but also commercial commodities. The brothers went from naive to notorious for turning the world on in one fearless leap.But, the global black market economy worships its own GOD: Gold, Oil & Drugs.In any market, middle men and even production are replaceable and therefore ultimately expendable. Only the players change but not the game.

The story moved from the amusement parks and chic beaches of Orange County, to hyperdelic interior worlds brightly lit by Orange Sunshine, to a bleaker landscape -- the international Badlands, heavy with the scent of corruption, scams, secrets, profit and betrayal. It became a story of fallen idealism, a modern morality play, peopled not only with psychedelic ideologues but with terrorists, criminal entrepreneurs and those who walk on the wilder shores of life.

But, perhaps, the story finally became one of redemption, even 'resurrection' among the few remaining original Brothers -- a sort of alternative Pilgrim's Progress. The brothers have matured and their contributions are being recognized. We now acknowledge the mythical nature in the notions that chemicals will show us the way to God, or evolution into space travel through Leary’s ‘eight circuits’, or quick-fix immersions in the Overmind. The story that couldn't be told before because of the unwritten law of "need to know", now can be. It emerges from behind the scenes of the well-known, but often distorted, public stories. Over the years there have been many stars in "the Dope Show", but the Brothers did it first and did it bigger -- "as bold as love".

The Brotherhood had its own 'Genesis' and later a mass 'Exodus' from the OC. It certainly had plenty of 'Numbers' and 'Kings' of kool, and 'Chronicles' too numerous to mention. Tim Leary Leary wrote BEL's own Bible, Psychedelic Prayers. There were sacraments, ceremonies and rituals. They had their own Guru, Prophets and 'Taco Jesus'. The US Senate threw the book of 'Judges' at them.More than one brother suffered through the Dark Night of the Soul. Latecomers and outsiders wrote the Apocrypha, some of which don't make the cut, according to the original band of brothers.Liturgical commentary comes from both orthodox and protestant media peanut galleries.But the brothers have their own narratives.The '60s and '70s constitute its Old Testament period, and the Millennial stories the New.Oliver Stone produced its Revival. This is BEL's "Book of Revelations". It's a story full of wisdom, humor and more than a little madness.

From its founding in 1966, the BROTHERHOOD OF ETERNAL LOVE (BOEL or BEL) has been synchronistically pioneering and shaping society. The original Brothers already had a creed of all for one and one for all even before they officially organized. In the 60s the scent of revolution was in the air. When BEL incorporated as a non-profit at "The Church" in Modjeska Canyon, Orange County, all agreed that was the perfect name for the spiritual group, and many brothers loyally keep the faith with one another to this day. The true story of the BEL Brothers is far from told since most of what has been written comes from "rats, rip offs, lames, shopkeepers, and cops". This is one epic Dope Opera.

They romanticized the American Outlaw -- outlaws, not criminals. Some don't wish to speak of it; others do. Some things are better left unsaid. Some brothers still carry serious disagreements and old gripes. There are accusations and misaccusations. In this dog eat dogma group, every dog has its day; every Brother has his say. These survivors include Veterans, Ministers, Addiction Counselors, Healers, Artists, and Lamas. The core is still more interested in spirituality and helping fellow travelers on their life journey than in chasing the dollar. If ministry is about touching peoples' lives, the BEL reached inside and rototilled their brains. This is their story, and it is still unfolding, so check back as our archive grows.This connection has not been fully explored yet. Today's BEL is a social activist organization supporting veterans, health, and organic food choices for children, musical and community events. It's a conspirituality.

GENESIS

In the beginning, BEL became an official church in 1966. The brothers all lit up, becoming One. And the Farmer John said it was good. It felt so divine they decided among themselves to make mankind in their own image. They decided to share the joy as the "Appleseeds of Acid", the righteous dealers of cosmic consciousness.And they thought, "We should have a firmament in the midst of the waters, a utopian island to call our own".

Within a short time, the Brotherhood went on to make ground-breaking movies, inspired numerous books, created music and psychedelic art, and promoted the "Peace & Love" ethic. The self-proclaimed philosophy of surfing, if there is such a thing, is freedom for all people in an environment of peace and brotherhood. Countless culture heroes, scientists, musicians, writers, inventors, therapists, and artists have been inspired and influenced by their lifestyle prescriptions.Some say they were the Ground Zero of West Coast counterculture. They fueled a cultural revolution, certainly in Southern California and beyond. They transformed the Wasteland of a war-torn cultural landscape into "the Greening of Consciousness", by holistically repatterning the Collective Unconscious.

An all-star cast played against the aliases of the Brothers themselves.They opened a crack in the conventional timeline of history that ignited a retinal circus and a mystic gnosis sometimes mistaken for self-realization. It was self-actualization, fulfilling one's individual potential.They created the reality they wanted to live in.There was a restlessness and craving for spiritual adventure and radical transformation. Acid did reveal an essentially timeless realm of immediate perception, but normal life inevitably returned. The bottom line was in blowing minds. They "turned on" their friends and, in some cases, later their friends turned on them. They went from altered states to altered statements.

BEL, BOOK & CANDLE

The universalist philosophy of 'Farmer' John Griggs spread far and wide, despite his early tragic death.BEL represented an ideal, a twisted cultural mission that transcended riding waves. Many surfers combine their love of the sport with their own religious or spiritual belief.This could have only happened in the Laguna Canyon during that revolutionary time.It fed into a new global mythology of bigger and better stories, of life lived more fully with spontaneous options -- a more organic perspective, more imaginative, more synchronistic. The world became their amusement park.Their Legacy was turning the world on to Peace and Love through Harmony with Nature.But other forces were already in play.

CIA became interested in LSD when they feared the KGB would weaponize it. They began experimenting with it as a truth serum. Many claim the U.S. Government deliberately created and manipulated the "drug problem" in the USA. Psychedelics were used in "occult" circles in the mid-1800's, then in "artistic" circles in the early-1900's, and widely in the late-1900's.

Psychedelic parties were part of the LA-Hollywood scene from the mid-50s, and Harvard in the early 60s.Leary was part of that intelligentsia. He gave his imprimatur to the new youth hero, the “righteous dealer.”However, wisdom is not granted by a wizard or teacher but realized by the individual searching within. Some brothers loved Leary; some thought him the penultimate narcissist. Some just thought the grandiose trickster brought too much heat.

Outmoded and limited perceptions, myths and metaphors were recast, redesigning the human fabric and all our ways of seeing. Movies like "Endless Summer" and "Rainbow Bridge" gave rise to new archetypes, and the evolution of old ones -- a new cultural Zeitgeist, the "California Ideology". Like modern Parcivals they launched a quest for the Holy Grail of consciousness. Myth facilitates the health of the psyche. New stories change outworn habits. This is what the artist knows and uses for inspiration -- a rebirth of the self. . .new ways of being. Everything happens Now.Surfers know that oceanic feeling, too.Surfing is environmental awareness.

COSMIC PARADIGM

BEL took on a legendary, even mythic quality with their underground chemistry and overland smuggling. They dared to dream, and they dreamed up a psychedelic movement. Huxley spoke of "the doors of perception". The brothers kicked down the doors to uncharted territory. They traveled vertically and horizontally, scouring the globe for unique botanicals. They surfed the waves of association in oceanic consciousness. Some commentators have a very cynical view of the Brotherhood, a band of acid-washed surfers whose idealism masked their self-indulgent shadowy side. Others are more reportorial. But the best accounts come from those who were there, lived it, and are still living it. The panacea was married to a 'back-to-the-land' philosophy, not unlike that of the Brothers. No one person knows the whole story; all they know is their involvement or 2nd and 3rd-hand stories they've heard. Many people never even met in person; all that was widely known was the product. Did they strike a balance between selflessness and selfishness? Probably not, but the world changed, anyway. They tried to suggest new principles for collective decisions.

They responded to the ossification of consumer culture and the toxicity of the Military-Industrial complex. Their seemingly random behavior had nonrandom outcomes for the population as a whole. New principles were broadly applied in a grand experiment somewhere between self-indulgence and spiritual aspiration. Sometimes there isn't much ground between breakthrough and breakdown, emergence and emergency, bloom and doom. Some of the darkest stories of these perennial Peter Pans remain untold despite recent "revelations", and perhaps that is best.

'AGENT' ORANGE?The Brotherhood remains a seminal influence. Arguably, no turn-on was more massive than the tsunami wave of Orange Sunshine they surfed into every corner of the globe. Eventually, the revolution got subverted and extinguished itself.

Clearly, the history of LSD, both within and without the BEL is all spooked up with intelligence connections and international money laundering. Stark was a shady character that combined tradecraft with chemistry to take the BEL in a global direction. He taught them international smuggling so they could dispense more 'Agent Orange', er, Orange Sunshine. What there was beyond question, was drugs and money -- literally tons of both. "Ghost money" comes in secret and leaves in secret.

Some brothers were closer than others. Some had a change of hearts and minds due to the actions of others, and rank betrayal. The move to Idyllwild created the first schizm. Some will say that the love was genuine, and some will say it wasn’t once greed and hard drugs entered the picture. BEL was many things to many people but there are many things it was not and never could be. But the Frontier remains. Sun still shines on the BEL.

BEL HEIR

Oliver Stone's movie "Savages" (2012) was set in Laguna Beach, and its prequel "Kings of Cool" draws even more liberally on the legends of the Brotherhood for its story line.They pretty much invented the Mexican pot trade, singlehandedly moving enough weed to kick production up into the “industrial” range. They loved their psychedelics, and did more to feed the heads on campuses all over this country than any other group.

When it came time to branch out into new ventures, they were the first to move Thai sticks, and Afghani black and Lebanese blonde hashes in weight.Those nonlinear stories are all woven together here. Not everyone knew each other at the time or over the different locales. That is because BEL also pioneered Spiritual Activism, Social Networking and Cosmic Networking.And, hey -- they are still the Kings of Kool.

Follow the Money

OVERVIEW

BEL Productions is an entertainment enterprise seeking production companies and investment for feature-length films for theatrical release. Our stories can be produced as “paranormal” fiction -- docudramas -- or factually-based documentaries. Our group of insightful investigative insiders has a unique perspective.

Distinct from the main line of historical fiction, in which the historical setting is a mere backdrop for a plot, docudramas demonstrate some or most of the following characteristics:

A focus on the facts of the event being treated, as they are known;

The use of literary and narrative techniques to flesh out or render story-like the bare facts of an event in history;

A tendency to avoid overt commentary and explicit assertion of the creator's own point of view or beliefs.

BEL is currently seeking private funding for production of the dramatic motion picture property "THE GREAT DOPE OPERA" [working title]. The film is commercially exploitable to a mass audience through theatrical exhibition, pay-per view, cable broadcast and all home-video formats, including HD and Blue Ray. Outstanding funding required for completion.

OBJECTIVES

Our goal is to make "movies that matter" - quality, intelligent, commercial films - on modest, cost-efficient budgets. We know how to handle controversial subjects to unpack their stories with emotional logic, allowing audiences their own point of view and conclusions. Corrosive secrets are issues that remain or return to relevance. Rather than “fictionalizing,” we illustrate a point of view. Suspense films remain perennial favorites with wide audiences. “Dramatic license” leaves interpretation open.

The founders of BEL Productions bring vision, passion, dedication, and a wealth of talents and experiences to the company. They have personal experience with the Brotherhood of Eternal Love subject matter.

The BEL principals are professional activists and writers with intelligence, promotional, and publishing backgrounds. Our content-driven stories are geared to push the product through all domestic and international venues including U.S. Theatrical, Foreign Theatrical, domestic and foreign network television, video and DVD sales, cable, pay per view and satellite. Our mission is to create valuable feature film products that will generate highly-attractive ROIs for our investors. Obscure, small movies routinely make from two to ten times their investment.DOCUDRAMA PROJECT

THE GREAT DOPE OPERA explores the globalization of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, through its viral ideas which set trends and influence beliefs about the nature of today's reality.

Docudramas recreate reality and can be used to explore social and national history. One need only think of the battles fought over docudramas like Oliver Stone's JFK (1991), Schindler’s List (1993) and “W” (2008) to see the heat which docudrama generates.

The docudrama has become a culturally important form which is the site of political battles over the nature of "truth," "reality," and the media manipulation of history and everyday life. This is not a movie-of-the-week biopic, but a film from an inside view of how it might have happened, with the potential for lasting global and artistic importance. The representation of reality is not equal to the reality it represents. But docudrama does make claims to provide a fairly accurate interpretation of real historical events. In other words, it is a non-fictional drama.

Docudrama argues that lost or elusive moral perspectives can be regained. Functional distortions include created dialogues among characters, expressions of internal thoughts, meetings of people that never happened, events reduced to two or three days that actually occurred over weeks, and so forth. While the actuality a work recreates may show the exercise of right and wrong thrown into jeopardy, the docudramatization of actual people, incidents and events ultimately restores a sense of a moral system at work. The world here can still be a place where on some scale, in some way, the struggle for a balance between right and wrong attains coherence.

Standard dramatic formulas from mainstream film and television apply wholesale to representing history. These conventions include a goal-oriented protagonist with clear motivations; a small number of central characters (two to three) with more stereotyping for secondary characters; causes that are generally ascribed to personal sources rather than structural ones (psychological traumas rather than institutional dynamics); a dramatic structure geared to the length of the program (a two-hour movie might have the normal "seven-act" structure); and an intensification of emotional ploys. The desire for emotional engagement by the viewers (a feature valuable for maintaining the audience through commercials) produces an inflection of the docudrama into several traditional genres. In particular, docudramas may appeal to affects of suspense, terror, or tears of happiness or sadness.

STRATEGY

Critical quibbling aside, the docudrama is one of the most popular and lucrative genres in North America, perhaps because it blurs the boundaries between reality and fiction and in the process generates an emotional hyperreality that brings the audience into the event. Such fact-based documentaries and docudramas are suitable for submission to Sundance Film Festival, Cannes, Toronto and several other major international film festivals that create a buzz. Such films are marketable to all major film markets, including North America, Europe, Asia, NAPTE and American Film Market in Los Angeles. Quality independent films and insightful documentaries have grown their market-share over the last decade. A well produced independent film can maintain high production standards while keeping costs low in comparison to films created by the major studio system.Foreign markets comprise more than half of a film’s revenue, so our emphasis is on storylines that have interest on all continents. Popular and profitable documentaries have proven that people will go see intelligent movies that strip away propaganda and historical lies. Controversy sells tickets and becomes a built-in aspect of PR. Other options with growing markets include Non-traditional Films, Large format films, direct-to-DVD movies, and small screen films, each having unique market characteristics.TARGET MARKETThe theatre-going general public thrives on action films with a story. We will do everything in our creative power to make this revealing film receive a rating PG-13 from the MPAA so that it could be suitable for teenagers as well as our primary target audience, which are males 18-65 years of age. All completed films have a significant value in the international marketplace. STAGES OF PRODUCTIONThe budget will cover all stages of production from pre-production to principal photography and post-production, including sound and editing, public relations and marketing campaigns during post-production and after the film’s completion, music clearances and rights, composer, insurance, completion bond, contingencies, and cast. Budget minimum and maximum are cast contingent.Author and film attorney Mark Litwak says the Hollywood moviemaking system is a complex and cumbersome machine, rife with waste. Producer Arnon Milchan (Pretty Woman, JFK) says no one in Hollywood really knows what they´re doing, and nine out of ten decisions made there are wrong. Only a strong sellers’ market could support such incompetence and inefficiency. Producing quality, cost-effective movies on modest budgets will ensure even greater profitability for us, because production costs can not be passed on to the customer. Litwak also notes that most of those in the industry don´t have much to say, while we do.